Former Paterson mayor’s refund check doesn’t quite measure up

PATERSON - Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres brought a $2,238 check to City Hall on Thursday to repay Paterson for money that he says was erroneously given to him back in 2009.

But it turns out the former mayor was shortchanging the city.

After Paterson Press asked him on Friday why he wasn’t refunding the full $3,169 he received when he cashed in 10 unused vacation days in 2009, Torres did some more research.

“You were right,” the former mayor said when he called back a reporter. Next week, Torres said, he would repay the balance.

Torres said he had based the original repayment on an entry from his personal bank records that showed a $2,238 direct deposit. But after Paterson Press pointed out to him that his net earnings had been $3,169, Torres called the finance staff at City Hall.

The former mayor said he then learned that the city had made a $650 contribution to the state credit union from that $3,169 payment and also allocated money to cover his insurance and pension.

That represents the second misunderstanding Torres had with the payment in question.

Last month, when Paterson Press first learned of the $3,169 check issued outside the city’s regular payroll process, Torres said it simply was a cash advance for upcoming vacation days.

But weeks later, Torres said he realized that the city payroll staff had still sent him his regular check in 2009 in the next pay cycle. Torres said last week that he had not intended to get paid both the cash advance money as well as the regular check, and would return the money.

Torres isn’t alone. Mayor Jeffery Jones also has acknowledged that he took $17,000 for unused vacation and sick days in 2011 and 2012. Jones says he is repaying the city.

But Torres, meanwhile, has said he doesn’t plan to repay Paterson for the $74,000 he got for accrued vacation and sick days when he left office in 2010 unless the state or Passaic County prosecutor determine there was wrongdoing.